Captain Marvel arrives in cinemas just over two weeks from now on a wave of strong buzz, but with this being the internet and all, it was only natural that the film would also have its share of vocal detractors, many of whom have recently focused their attention on flooding the movie’s Rotten Tomatoes page with negative takes.
This tactic of driving down a film’s user score is nothing new, with Black Panther being on the receiving end of a similar campaign last year to dissuade filmgoers from giving the movie a try. Of course, as anyone who recalls the box office figures of T’Challa’s solo debut can tell you, the approach proved pretty ineffective in sinking Ryan Coogler’s pic, and with Captain Marvel currently tracking for a $100 million-plus domestic opening, it feels safe to say that this latest wave of backlash is hardly a reflection of the majority opinion.
Much of this negative response concerns comments made by Brie Larson in June last year, when she called for more diversity in film criticism. During a speech at the Crystal + Lucy Awards, the Oscar-winner used the negative critical reception to A Wrinkle in Time as an example, explaining, “I don’t need a 40-year-old white dude to tell me what didn’t work about A Wrinkle in Time. It wasn’t made for him! I want to know what it meant to women of color, biracial women, to teen women of color.”
The actress also remarked that she doesn’t “hate white dudes,” but was concerned that if you “make the movie that is a love letter to women of color, there is an insanely low chance a woman of color will have a chance to see your movie and review your movie.”
In any case, despite the early backlash, the real test for Captain Marvel comes when the film hits theaters on March 8th, 2019.
